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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28581546">Bathtub Gin and Tonics</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204'>randi2204</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnificent Seven (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - Prohibition Era, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:28:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28581546</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's 1925, and after leaving New York, Rain and Nathan meet up with Josiah in Chicago, hoping he'll know of a venue where Nathan can play and Rain can sing.  Boy, does he.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nathan Jackson/Rain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bathtub Gin and Tonics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Todesengel/gifts">Todesengel</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>Disclaimer:</b> These boys (and girls) belong to MGM, Mirisch, &amp; Trilogy, not to me, woes.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Reckon Fat Sam won’t find us here,” Nathan said, flashing his brilliant smile at Rain before glancing out at the run-down neighborhood they drove through.</p>
<p>It was on the tip of her tongue to say <i>How can you be so sure?</i> Fat Sam had his fingers in a lot of pies, and it wasn’t so far-fetched to think those pies might be in Chicago as well as New York.  But Nathan’s tone had been filled with hope, and that had been sorely lacking the past few weeks, so she held in her sigh and said nothing.  Her fingers did grip the steering wheel a little more tightly, though.</p>
<p>She didn’t like thinking about Fat Sam and his chubby fingers… at least not without also thinking about breaking those fingers.  She indulged in that little fantasy more often than was probably good for her.</p>
<p>“Is that West Cabrini?” Nathan pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, then carefully held it down with his bandaged hand and used the other to unfold it.  “Yeah, he says to turn down West Cabrini, then South Lytle onto West Lexington.”</p>
<p>Rain made the turns in silence.  The third street they turned onto was narrow, the houses and tenements unkempt.  There weren’t many cars; the ones she saw were mainly old Model Ts and most of them were in sorry shape.  It made her worry just a little about their Nash; it was in much better condition than any of the cars she saw, even though it desperately needed a service.</p>
<p>They were close to Lake Michigan; the wind coming into the car was stronger, and felt damp.  The neighborhood probably housed the workers for warehouses and the docks, if any were nearby.</p>
<p>“There it is!” Nathan’s grin grew even wider in his excitement.  Peering through the dusty, smeared windscreen, Rain saw it, too – a church steeple.  She pulled off to the side and turned off the engine.  As soon as she put on the parking brake, Nathan was out of the car and practically bounding across the street.</p>
<p>It brought a smile to her face.  It was so <i>good</i> to see him happy again.</p>
<p>She followed more slowly, taking in the sad state of the church – white paint blistered and peeling, no bell in the steeple, some of the windows boarded up… and was it actually listing to one side? That couldn’t just be her imagination, could it?</p>
<p><i>Pretty sure there isn’t enough money in the world to make me go in there,</i> she thought.</p>
<p>Josiah had met Nathan on the rickety stoop, and they stood there together now, Josiah patting Nathan on the shoulder, while Nathan held his injured hand awkwardly to one side.  Josiah looked up at the crunch of dirt beneath her shoes, and smiled his happy smile.  “Why Miss Rain, you are the loveliest thing to grace this old church since it was built.”</p>
<p>She smiled back, pleased to see him for all that he’d left New York in such a hurry they’d been without a bass player for three weeks.  “Thank you, Josiah, but all those miles have left me feeling ragged.”  She brushed at the dust that had settled on her skirt.  Neither her skirt nor gloves ended in any better state.</p>
<p>“You might not be fresh as a daisy,” Josiah said, “but you’re certainly as pretty as one.  Come inside, both of you.” He stepped back to let them pass through the doorway.  Nathan stepped inside immediately, but Rain hung back, eyeing the sagging doorframe.  Of course, Josiah noticed.  “It’s safe, Rain,” he said quietly.  “The outside looks like hell, but everything inside is fine.”</p>
<p>She lifted her chin and marched up the steps.  They creaked under her feet, but held, and she ducked as she passed under the frame, more out of instinct than anything else.  Josiah followed, closing the door with a firm thump.</p>
<p>True to his word, the inside was in much better condition the outside.  None of the stained-glass windows had survived; the openings had been boarded up, but the lamps were lit, and it was bright enough.  The pews were in varying states of refinishing, and the altar had been removed from the front.  The floor showed no sign of warping, despite the evidence of the exterior, and thudded hollowly as they walked across it.</p>
<p>Josiah led them through a door on one side of the church and into a small room, which had probably been the padre’s office when the church still had a congregation.  He had set it up as his bedroom and gestured to them to sit at the rickety little table in the corner.  From a trunk at the foot of the bed he pulled a few tumblers and a green bottle.</p>
<p>Nathan smirked at the clear and pungent liquid that Josiah poured from the bottle.  “Shoulda known you’d get to know a bootlegger.”  He took a sip of the liquor and immediately his face squinched up.  “Whooee, Josiah, that’s just one step up from wood alcohol!”</p>
<p>Rain took off her hat and gloves and swirled the finger of liquid in her glass; the aroma that drifted up stung her nose and burned her eyes.  She quickly set it back down again without drinking.  “Tell that bootlegger he’s <i>got</i> to get a better recipe.”</p>
<p>“I’ll be sure to tell myself,” Josiah said, then tossed his glass back in a controlled way that spoke of long practice.</p>
<p>Nathan shook his head, but took another sip and shuddered as fire raced down his throat.</p>
<p>Somehow, she refrained from rolling her eyes at the pair of them.  “I should have known you’d be making bathtub gin,” she said.  “Does that mean you have a line on a place Nathan can work, too?”</p>
<p>Because that was the important thing, wasn’t it?  He needed a place where he could play once his hand healed up, because they would need some money sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>What she was really asking – and she knew Josiah knew it – was if there was a speak’ that would hire Nathan to play.  Still, failing that, there might be some other kind of club, and Josiah would probably know of at least one.  It was just that a speakeasy was a bit more likely to hire Nathan, and maybe a bit less likely to cheat him out of his money.  Not that honesty was likely to be part of the makeup of someone who was running a speak’, but she could dream.</p>
<p>“Where you can sing, too,” Nathan said, reaching across the table to take her hand.  “You know we’re a team.”</p>
<p>Rain smiled, but shook her head, unwilling to have <i>that</i> argument again.  Instead, she turned to Josiah, her eyebrows raised expectantly.</p>
<p>Josiah was fiddling with the cork in his bottle, looking like he wanted to pour himself another drink, and also like that was the last thing he wanted to do.  Instead, he put the bottle back in the trunk and closed the lid.</p>
<p>Nathan frowned at him, his fingers tightening around Rain’s hand.  “J’siah?”  He glanced at her, then back.</p>
<p>“Just ruminating on God, mysterious ways, and performing wonders,” Josiah said.  “As it happens, I… do know of a place that could use a musician.”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah?” Nathan relaxed again.  “Where’s that?”</p>
<p>“Here.”</p>
<p>For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the breeze whistling through the gaps in the boards over the windows.</p>
<p>“Here,” Nathan repeated slowly.</p>
<p>Josiah nodded and stood.  “Yep.  Come on, I’ll show you.”</p>
<p>Nathan did the same, frown only deepening in his confusion.  “Josiah, there’s no way… the church ain’t big enough.”</p>
<p>Josiah led them back into the nave, then stepped up onto the dais where the altar had once stood.  The floor was covered by a threadbare carpet.  Josiah threw this back, revealing a square section of new floorboards, about three feet by three.  He stepped on one corner, causing the opposite one to pop up from the floor just enough to get his fingers under.  He pulled the trapdoor – for that’s what it was – from the floor, revealing a staircase underneath, leading down into the darkness under the church.</p>
<p>“Follow me,” Josiah said, and started down the stairs.  He disappeared in only a moment, and they heard him call back, “Mind your head!”</p>
<p>Rain glanced over at Nathan, then shrugged and carefully stepped down into the floor.  The stairs were silent under her sensible heels, which was more than she could say for the ones into the church itself.  She smiled up at Nathan and made her way down into the darkness – which wasn’t that dark after all, as there was a light at the end of the stair.</p>
<p>She found herself in a storeroom of sorts; there were wooden crates stacked neatly against the walls.  Hay tufted out between the slats, and she knew at once that those crates contained bottles of alcohol – perhaps stuff as awful as Josiah’s home brew.  In fact, judging by the sharp smell permeating the room, it seemed likely that Josiah was the supplier, or at least one of them.</p>
<p>Nathan thudded down the stairs behind her, his uninjured hand raised to keep himself from hitting his head against the edge of the opening.  Between the three of them and all the crates, there was just enough space to turn around in.  As soon as Nathan was down, Josiah opened the door out of the storeroom.  “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve already signaled you’re both all right.”</p>
<p>Rain stepped out into a space that was not at all the way she’d imagined it would be.  She’d imagined a church cellar – a small, dank space, with earthen walls and unpleasant smells because mold had crept into the vestments.</p>
<p>Instead, it was an area much bigger than the floor of the church above, with a pleasantly high ceiling, and solid stone walls and floor.  It was cool and slightly damp, as one might expect being underground, but with a few dozen people in the space, it would warm right up.  Along the walls were a surprising number of sturdy-looking tables, topped by a variety of mismatched chairs, and the floor had recently been swept. The bar stood along the wall beside the storeroom, where a pretty young woman stood wiping glasses with a cloth. Her dark hair was unfashionably long, but her slim skirt, white blouse and low-heeled shoes were just what any young lady would wear.</p>
<p>“Inez,” Josiah called and the woman glanced up from her task.  “These are my friends Nathan and Rain.”</p>
<p>The woman smiled.  “Yes, Josiah has told me of you many, many times.  I’m very glad to meet you.”  She came out from behind the bar and held out her hand to Rain.  “My name is Inez Recillos.”</p>
<p>“Rain Jackson,” Rain replied automatically, shaking her hand.  “Nice to meet you, Miss Recillos.”</p>
<p>“Please, call me Inez.  After all, I presume Josiah brought you down here for a job, yes?” She grinned at Josiah over Rain’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“You mean…” Nathan looked between Inez and Josiah.  “I thought that <i>you</i>…”</p>
<p>“No, no.” Josiah waved away whatever Nathan was about to say.  “I own the church and land, and rent out this space to Inez.  She’s in charge.”</p>
<p>“Josiah has told me much about your skill with playing the horn,” Inez said.  “I do not have a musical act at the moment, and having you play will bring in more business.  I’m willing to pay you what that’s worth.”  She glanced at Nathan, then back at Rain, and Rain couldn’t help but notice how shrewd that glance was.  “I have also heard much of your singing,” she added, smiling, “so have no fear I mean to break up a brilliant partnership by only hiring half of it.”</p>
<p>“Well, that’s mighty gracious of you, ma’am,” Nathan said before Rain could automatically refuse.  “Still, I should tell you … it might be at least a week before I can play.” He held up his bandaged hand with a slightly apologetic air.  “Got hurt not too long before we left New York.  No hard feelings if that changes your mind, Miss Recillos.”</p>
<p>Rain quickly turned her head, so no one would see the face she couldn’t keep herself from making at Nathan’s words.  He was deliberately leaving out just <i>how</i> he was injured, no doubt thinking that not knowing would keep them safe.</p>
<p>Inez flapped her hand in obvious dismissal.  “No, no – if you are agreeable, the offer will still stand when you are healed.  I will be happy to have you here.”</p>
<p>Nathan smiled and it was so bright that it almost seemed to light up the basement.  “Thank you – we accept.”</p>
<p>“Excellent!” Inez extended her hand, first to Nathan, who shook it awkwardly with his uninjured one, then to Rain.  “Josiah can show you both around while I finish with my bookkeeping and other chores.”</p>
<p>“If it’s all the same,” Rain said, forcing her way in before Josiah could drag them both off, “I think I’d like to sit for a while.”</p>
<p>Nathan brushed her hand, a feather touch to get her attention.  “You all right?”</p>
<p>“Just tired,” she said, as reassuring as she could manage.</p>
<p>“Come, come,” Inez said, waving her toward the bar.  “Sit over here with me.”</p>
<p>Rain patted Nathan’s hand, then watched as he and Josiah moved toward the far end of the basement.</p>
<p>Inez stepped behind the bar again and nodded for Rain to take a seat on one of the tall chairs opposite.  Rain slid onto one just across from Inez, who had returned to polishing the glasses.  “Can I offer you something to drink?”</p>
<p>“A soda water, please – I had a sniff of Josiah’s home brew earlier, and…”</p>
<p>“Say no more!”  Inez filled a glass with soda water and passed it over.  “I know he thinks it is good enough to drink, but it is <i>not</i>.”</p>
<p>Rain took a sip and felt the dust that had accumulated in her mouth melt away.  “You mean that’s not what’s in your storeroom?” She tilted her glass toward the door by which they’d entered.</p>
<p>Inez snorted.  “There <i>are</i> bottles of his brew in there, but I make sure they are kept near the back.  I use it mostly for cleaning.”</p>
<p>She couldn’t help herself; she snickered.  “Does <i>he</i> know that?”</p>
<p>“I believe he pretends he does not know,” Inez replied.  “But he has not produced a batch of his… homemade hooch for some time.”</p>
<p>“I reckon that’s for the best, then.”</p>
<p>Driven by some impulse she couldn’t control – and, if she was honest with herself, she didn’t really want to – Rain gave her attention to Nathan and Josiah for a moment.  </p>
<p>Nathan had climbed onto the stage to survey the space there, and now looked out over the full length of the church basement.  “How many people do you have in here of a night?  Is there some other entrance than the church?”  His voice carried well in the empty basement, which boded well for future performances.</p>
<p>Leaning back against the front of the stage, Josiah gestured toward the opposite wall.  “There’s been a time or two we’ve had a crowd packed in – every table used, hardly enough room to move across the floor.  We might have that more often now – at least once you’re playin’ again.” He made no further mention of Nathan’s injury, but Rain was suddenly very sure he was putting together pieces of the puzzle.  “Most nights, it’s busy, but not so bad a body can’t get to the bar.  The waiters are good, too, never miss a trick or spill a drink.”</p>
<p>Nathan chuckled.  “Got all kinds of talent, then!”</p>
<p>Josiah straightened away from the front of the stage.  “The main entrance is actually across the way, in that empty tenement on Lytle you passed when you came here.  See that door there, directly across?  That’s where everyone comes in, except for me and Inez and the rest who work here.  There’s a tunnel that goes under West Lexington and into the tenement’s basement.  Folk who want to come here know that’s how to get in.”</p>
<p>Nathan fiddled with his bandage for a moment, and if she hadn’t known him so well, Rain would have wondered where his good humor had gone.  But she knew he’d been a little more troubled than he’d let on, so she didn’t have to hear him to know what he asked Josiah next.</p>
<p>Rain stared into the bubbles effervescing in the soda water, and resisted the urge to hide her face in her hands.  <i>I’m stronger than that,</i> she told herself firmly, <i>and besides, it won’t do any good.</i></p>
<p>If only Fat Sam hadn’t bought out the Floreria Atlantico, the speak’ where they had played.  <i>Well</i>, she reflected wryly, <i>things certainly wouldn’t have turned out this way. </i> Chicago was so far away from New York.</p>
<p>But he had, damn him, and had turned everything into such a mess with his ham-fisted way of doing things that it was a wonder he’d gotten enough money to buy the speak’ in the first place.  Then he’d driven off the barkeep and most of the staff and replaced them with people that didn’t know anything about what they were doing.  When he’d shorted Nathan their pay, that had been the last straw.  The two of them and their act were the big draw for the Atlantico, and if they left…</p>
<p>Of course, Fat Sam took exception to them leaving.  He might have come out the worse in the end, with no act and no replacement and not much business, but he’d still done damage before they’d gotten away.</p>
<p>It took an effort for Rain to bring her attention back to Inez.  “Before you hire us,” she said, keeping her voice low, “there’s something I think you ought to know.”</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>She took a deep breath.  “There’s a reason we left New York in a hurry.  There’s a man there – his name’s Sam Lynch, but everybody calls him Fat Sam.  He’s got a lot of money and a lot of influence… and that means he thinks he can have anything he wants.”</p>
<p>Inez gave her a <i>knowing</i> look.  “I see.  And he is the cause of the bandage?” She tilted her head slightly toward Nathan and Josiah, still talking near the small stage.</p>
<p>“Yes.” Rain shuddered a little at the memory; it was still too vivid.  “There is a… possibility that Fat Sam will try to find us, and if he does, that will cause problems for you.”</p>
<p>Inez studied the glasses she’d just polished, then tapped a finger on the rim of one, clearly deep in thought; it rang out at the touch, an almost soothing sound.  “It might,” she said at length.  “But not if we tell the police about him first.”</p>
<p>Rain blinked.  This place didn’t look like it was a big enough operation for what Inez seemed to be suggesting.  “You have <i>the police</i> on your payroll?” she asked, just above a whisper, even though only the four of them were there.</p>
<p>Inez laughed as if what Rain had said was absurd.  “No!” She smiled and began to stack the glasses on the shelf behind her.  “No, but there is a policeman who is pleased to come here when he is not working, and drink and see nothing.  And his partner…”</p>
<p>“His partner?” Rain prompted, when she didn’t finish.</p>
<p>She laughed again.  “He is pleased to talk to me, no matter where that might be.  But if we tell them about this Fat Sam, that he may be looking for you, then perhaps they can be looking for him.”  Finished with her glassware, Inez leaned across the bar, and when she spoke, her voice was low but warm.  “For all that he is a <i>puto</i>, he is not the kind to like anyone who treats a woman badly, and his friend, the one who just wants to drink, he is the same.”</p>
<p>Slowly, Rain nodded, trying to keep her face from showing just how much those words meant.  <i>You’re safe here,</i> Inez was telling her.  But since <i>that night</i>, her nerves had been strung so tight they jangled, and she wasn’t sure she remembered how to relax.</p>
<p>Inez regarded her with a soft smile.  “Josiah has said much of your performances,” she said, and she was so obviously trying to distract Rain from her thoughts that Rain couldn’t help but be grateful.  “Particularly of that song, the one that is your favorite…” She frowned, tapping her fingers on the bar top, not quite in rhythm.  “Oh, the name, I do not remember…”</p>
<p>“Everybody loves my baby,” Rain said – almost sang, giving the words a little trill.  “But my baby don’t love nobody but me.”</p>
<p>“Yes! That one.  Josiah tells of how the crowds in New York listen with such attention, and how they cheer when you are done.”</p>
<p>Rain felt her cheeks heat.  It was something indeed for this woman she’d barely met to be a fan of her work… and without even having heard her sing!  “It’s older now, a bit out of date, but I still like it,” she said.  “Nathan’s trumpet really makes it work, though.”</p>
<p>“Then I will look forward to hearing it when he is able to play again.” Inez gave her a knowing look from dark eyes.</p>
<p>It was hard, being a woman in a man’s world, and Rain’s eyes welled up a little when she realized that here was another woman who understood that, who had to live it every day, just as she did herself.  She nodded in response, and a warm feeling of gratitude filled her chest as Inez returned her attention to the array of glasses on the bar.  The silence that fell between them was comfortable, despite the fact they were nearly strangers.</p>
<p>Once all her glasses had been polished and put away, Inez pulled an accounting ledger from beneath the bar, and, not for the first time, Rain wondered just how much money you could make, running a speakeasy.</p>
<p>She spent a long moment watching Inez’s pencil dance over the neat figures in the columns of the ledger without even realizing what she was doing.  When she did, she looked away quickly.  “Sorry,” she offered quietly.  “I didn’t mean to stare.”</p>
<p>Inez flapped her free hand without looking up from the ledger.  “Fah – it is fine,” she answered, though she sounded distracted.  “Normally, I do my totals at the end of the night, but last night we were very busy, and stayed open later than usual.”</p>
<p>Rain nodded, and finished her soda water before it could go completely flat.  “If I’m not interrupting… what do people like to drink here?”</p>
<p>Inez’s pencil slowed as she considered the question.  “Gin drinks, mostly,” she said.  “According to what my ledger tells me, anyway.” She tapped the pencil on the page, frowning.  “I will need to get more sooner than I thought I would… we’re nearly out.”</p>
<p>“You’re not <i>really</i> serving Josiah’s bathtub gin, are you?”</p>
<p>Inez laughed as she refilled Rain’s glass.  “Oh, no, of course not!  The only one who drinks that, aside from Josiah, is Officer Larabee, and sometimes, I think he only does drink it because he wishes to repent something.  No, we get our liquor through Señor Torrio.”</p>
<p>“So it’s decent?” Rain teased.</p>
<p>“I should hope so,” a new voice cut in, smooth as silk.  The suddenness of it made her twitch.  <i>I didn’t hear anyone! </i>she thought, and pressed a hand to her chest to still her suddenly racing heart.</p>
<p>“My apologies,” that smooth voice said, and Rain wasn’t quite sure if it was sincere or not.  The voice, that soft Southern accent – and the face attached to it when she spun around on the stool – seemed especially suited to dishonesty; it cultivated innocence as a way to mislead the unwary.  “I didn’t mean to startle you.”</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” she managed at last – a lie, and the way the fellow’s eyes sharpened, she knew he knew.  He did not sit down on the stool next to her, but stood somewhat stiffly on the other side of it, keeping it between them as some kind of barrier.  </p>
<p>“You must be Missus Jackson,” the newcomer said.  “Mister Sanchez has been most… vocal to see you and Mister Jackson once more.”</p>
<p>Rain nodded and forced a smile.  It was sometimes best to be wary of Southerners.  “Yes.  Pleased to meet you, Mister…?”</p>
<p>“Standish,” the newcomer said, and half-lifted his hand before dropping it uncomfortably.</p>
<p>“We need five more cases of whiskey for the week, and at least three more of gin,” Inez said, still pouring over her accounting book.  “Is Señor Torrio able to supply?”</p>
<p>Twitching at his cuffs, Mister Standish sighed and rolled his eyes.  “Señorita…”</p>
<p>“You know he will not deal with me, Ezra.” Inez shook her pencil at him.  “I have tried.  Are you not able to… to reason with him?”</p>
<p>“It’s not Signore Torrio,” Ezra explained on the back of another sigh.  “It’s his… right-hand man who is most unreasonable.  But I did wrangle him out of four cases of whiskey, and one of gin.  I know,” he went on before Inez could scold him further.  “But we cannot get a better deal, and I, for one, don’t wish to deal with Mister Moran.  The repercussions would be… unpleasant, to say the least.”</p>
<p>Inez huffed, but didn’t disagree.  Then she noticed Rain’s confusion and said, “Señor Torrio runs the liquor business on this side of town.  Señor Moran has the north side of town, but he hates Señor Torrio and his <i>numero uno</i>.”</p>
<p>“Tryin’ to deal with them,” Ezra interrupted, “is liable to end up with someone gettin’ shot many times, either by Mister Moran or by Signore Torrio.  I would really rather avoid such a fate if at all possible.”</p>
<p>“Huh,” Rain said.  “I never thought about how hard it might be for a speak’ to get liquor.”  And as an entertainer, it had always been outside her scope.  All the previous owner of the Atlantico had wanted was for her to sing sweet and get people in the door.</p>
<p>“Cheers to the Volstead Act,” Ezra said, and Rain was surprised by the sudden bitterness in his tone.</p>
<p>“We will get by with the whiskey,” Inez mused, pouring over her book.  “But we will have to find something else to use for gin before the next shipment arrives.”</p>
<p>“There’s always Josiah’s…” Rain began, smiling.</p>
<p>Ezra shuddered.  “We are tryin’ to <i>keep</i> customers, my dear lady, not kill them.”</p>
<p>“The next time you see Señor Tanner, tell him to take more of it,” Inez ordered absently, her pencil dancing over her ledger.  “I would be happy to tell Officer Larabee that we don’t have any, just to save his stomach.”</p>
<p>“Mister Larabee would drink anything that got him inebriated,” Ezra replied.  “The state of his body afterward does not enter into his consideration.”</p>
<p>“It ought to… does Señor Torrio have bourbon?  Juleps might sell…”</p>
<p>“Perhaps in May, but I couldn’t vouch for the rest of the year, Señorita.”</p>
<p>For some reason, listening to Inez and Ezra bicker good naturedly over the potential popularity of various drinks settled Rain’s nerves even more than Inez’s reassurances, and she sipped her soda water with something that felt very like contentment.</p>
<p>A hand, warm and familiar, settled onto Rain’s shoulder, and she relaxed into it, turning to smile up at Nathan.  “Everything all right?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” she answered at once, just to see his beautiful smile.  “Everything is fine.”</p>
<p>***<br/>
January 1, 2021</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There <i>is</i> a church in the area of Little Italy I picked, but it’s definitely not a dilapidated old thing; it’s a stone and brick edifice called the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii.  I picked it because Google Maps says it’s not too far away from a police precinct, and it’s on streets that didn’t look too heavily traveled, and <i>might</i> have been in a more run-down area in times past.  It is too far away from the lake for Rain to be able to feel the wind off the water, but *handwaves* poetic license and all that.  If I’m making up a speakeasy in a huge church basement, I can make up anything.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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